A    LECTURE, 


DELIVERED    AT    PASSAIC.N.  J. 


DANIEL  HOLSMAN, 


AT    THE    REQUEST    OF   A    COMMITTEE, 


February  26th,  1856. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

KINO  *  BAIRD,  PRINTERS,  No.  9  SANSOM  STREET. 
1868. 


Stack 

Annex 

r 


MEXICO. 


To  ALL  men,  whether  to  the  historian,  the 
poet,  or  the  romancer ; — Mexico  possesses  great 
interest.  To  the  historian,  the  chronicling  of  the 
great  mutations  of  her  fortunes  furnishes  a  wide 
field,  to  the  poet  her  mountains,  her  flowers,  and 
her  singing  birds  are  suggestive  of  song,  and  to 
the  romancer,  Spain  herself  is  not  more  rich  in 
legends  than  Mexico.  Every  grand  sullen  old 
mountain,  each  little  chapel  whose  bell  tinkles  in 
some  beautiful  vale,  summoning  its  little  flock  of 
faithful  to  prayer,  has  its  misty  tale,  and  even  the 
streets  of  the  great  cities  share  the  honor.  While 
the  historian  lingers  over  the  fragmentary  records 
of  the  Aztec  Empire  and  speculates  upon  its 
departed  greatness,  and  the  scholar  with  eager- 
ness scans  the  hieroglyphics  upon  the  tombs  at 
Xochimilco,  and  the  poet  dreams  of  the  sombre 
sighing  cypresses  and  the  loves  of  Montezuma, 


we  the  practicals  of  the  present,  looking  for  th> 
incorporation   of    the    territory   with   our    own, 
gather   with   far    greater    interest   those   things 
which  more  immediately  relate  to  her  people  and 
her  resources. 

Many  have  read  the  quaint  truthful  history  of 
Bernal  Diary,  the  chronicler  of  the  conquest, — 
thousands  have  pored  with  delight  over  the 
fascinating  pages  of  Prescott,  but  never  since  the 
time  Cortez  was  banished  from  the  land  he  had 
conquered  for  his  master  has  Mexico  had  an 
adequate  historian. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  follow  that  arch  filibus- 
ter, Cortez,  and  his  five  hundred  men,  nor  to  re- 
count how  he  marched  through  now  hostile,  now 
friendly  tribes ;  how,  at  one  time,  he  was  met  by 
fierce  foes  with  arrows  and  deadly  lances ;  how, 
at  another,  he  was  greeted  by  joyous  youths  and 
dancing  maidens  bearing  garlands  in  their  hands, 
and  decking  his  war  steed  with  wreaths,  and 
how,  at  last,  he  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  the 
Aztec  Empire,  removed  from  his  throne  the 
luxurious  but  powerful  monarch,  and  added  to 
Spain  her  richest  dependency,  but  simply  to 


relate  those  things  which  a  short  stay  in  that 
beautiful  but  unhappy  country  brought  under  my 
notice. 

The  origin  of  the  Aztec  Nation  is  involved 
in  as  much  doubt  to  its  as  it  was  to  them. 
They  were  not  natives  of  the  soil;  their  own 
legends  and  their  high  state  of  civilization 
amidst  surrounding  barbarism  disprove  that,  but 
whence  they  came  is  a  mystery  which  the  lapse 
of  three  centuries  has  not  served  to  unravel,  and 
which,  in  all  probability,  no  further  flight  of 
time  will  elucidate.  As  a  Nation,  they  were 
highly  intellectual,  and  virtuous  far  beyond  those 
who  considered  themselves  the  heralds  of  the 
only  true  religion.  They  had  an  extensive  know- 
ledge of  the  arts,  and  paid  much  attention  to 
architecture,  which  in  itself  denotes  an  advanced 
state  of  civilization.  Their  religious  rites  were 
in  many  particulars  similar  to  those  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  the  cross  was  the  emblem  of  their 
religion,  they  observed  a  ceremony  almost  identi- 
cal in  form  with  that  of  the  solemn  communion, 
and  baptised  their  infants  with  water,  imploring 
the  presiding  goddess  that  the  sin  which  was 


6 

given  the  child  before  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  might  be  washed  away,  and  that  it  might 
live  and  be  born  anew.  But  that  which  we  most 
wonder  at  and  which  we  most  admire,  is  their 
code  of  laws,  which  were  duly  registered  and 
exhibited  to  the  people  by  means  of  hieroglyphic 
paintings.  The  great  offences  against  society,  says 
Prescott,  were  all  made  capital.  Prodigality,  the 
removing  of  another's  landmarks,  and  the  failure 
to  give  a  good  account  of  a  ward's  property  were 
alike  punished  by  death.  The  laws  with  regard 
to  intemperance  were  also  of  extreme  severity: 
in  the  young  it  was  visited  with  death,  in  the  old 
by  loss  of  rank  and  confiscation  of  property. 
The  rite  of  marriage  was  celebrated  with  much 
formality,  and  divorces  could  alone  be  obtained 
after  a  hearing  before  the  tribunal  especially 
instituted  for  the  purpose.  The  morality  which 
pervaded  the  kingdom  far  exceeded  that  which 
marks  the  most  enlightened  nation  of  the  pre- 
sent, their  happiness  was  almost  paradisiacal ;  but 
the  prophecy  that  a  stranger  was  to  come  who 
would  reduce  them  to  vassalage  had  to  be  ful- 
filled. The  Spaniard  came — the  herald  of  civili- 


zation  and  the  only  true  religion — he  found  it 
prosperous  and  happy,  he  left  it  ruined  and 
desolate — he  found  it  a  garden  of  virtues,  he  left 
it  a  wilderness  of  vice.  It  is  needless  for  me  to 
say  more  of  the  inhabitants  of  Anahuac.  The 
story  of  their  virtues  and  almost  perfect  happi- 
ness, the  description  of  their  sufferings  and  their 
wrongs,  live  in  the  fervid  pages  and  poetic  prose 
of  Prescott. 

The  two  great  natural  divisions  of  Mexico  are 
those  of  climate,  the  tierra  caliente  and  the 
tierra  templada:  the  former  embracing  the  gulf 
and  Pacific  coasts,  and  all  those  regions  hot 
enough  to  produce  the  tropical  fruits,  and  the 
latter  comprising  the  high  table  lands.  Just  in 
the  hottest  part  of  the  hot  country,  on  the  verge 
of  a  sandy  desert,  with  the  worst  harbor  on  the 
coast,  in  fact,  just  the  last  place  where  you  would 
imagine  any  one  would  have  thought  of  locating 
a  city,  is  situated  the  Commercial  Emporium  of 
the  republic — Vera  Cruz.  The  view  of  Vera 
Cruz  from  the  sea  is  one  of  peculiarity.  First 
are  visible  the  domes  and  spires  of  the  churches, 
rusted  and  black  from  age  and  vicinity  to  the 


8 

sea ;  on  the  sides  and  rear  stretches  an  arid  plain 
reaching  nearly  back  to  a  high  mountain,  which 
divides  it  from  the  valley  of  Jalapa;  in  front, 
leaving  a  narrow  and  insecure  roadstead,  lies  a 
low  coral  reef  upon  which  stands  the  famous 
castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa.  The  town  itself 
is  small,  containing  not  more  than  five  or  six 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  encircled  by  a  ditch 
and  wall,  which  have  served  the  purpose  of 
keeping  no  enemy  out  that  wanted  to  get  in. 
Although  the  principal  post  of  the  republic  on 
the  gulf,  the  streets  have  a  deserted  appearance, 
with  grass  growing  between  the  stones,  and  the 
unmolested  buzzards  their  only  scavengers. 

It  was  in  the  beginning  of  March,  in  an 
incipient  Norther,  one  of  those  gales  which  have 
proved  so  disastrous  to  many  noble  ships,  that  we 
entered  the  lonely  roadstead  of  Vera  Cruz; 
strikingly  was  it  in  contrast  with  the  lovely  and 
romantic  harbor  we  had  just  left.  I  have  been 
up  and  down  the  New  York  Bay  hundreds  of 
times ;  I  know  every  villag*  that  stands  upon  the 
beautiful  banks  of  Staten  Island;  I  have  seen 
the  light-house  on  Robins'  Reef  throwing  its 


9 

lengthened  shadow  to  the  east  and  to  the  west ; 
but  whether  at  sunrise  or  at  sunset,  or  even  when 
the  light-house  sheds  a  lustrous  gleam  upon  the 
waters,  it  always  has  a  charm  and  a  charm  of 
novelty.  But  here  nothing  than  a  roadstead  of 
narrow  breadth,  on  the  one  side  a  great  fort,  on 
the  other  a  diminutive  little  town,  along  the 
shore  a  few  wrecks,  and  in  the  stream  protruding 
masts  of  great  ships,  which  in  fearful  storms  had 
perished  at  their  anchors.  The  hot  days,  the 
scarcely  cooler  nights,  the  scorching  winds  from 
off  the  plains  and  the  shadeless  streets  of  Vera 
Cruz,  are  no  inducements  to  the  stranger  to  pro- 
long his  stay.  If  you  are  for  the  city  of  Mexico, 
or  the  interior,  you  leave  in  the  afternoon  by  the 
diligencia,  no  peculiar  vehicle  indigenous  to  the 
country,  but  precisely  similar  to  the  hotel  coaches 
of  our  large  cities,  and  made  by  those  enterprising 
individuals,  Eaton  and  Gilbert,  of  Troy.  After 
driving  a  half  mile  beyond  the  walls,  you  reach 
the  railway  station,  where,  instead  of  alighting 
and  seating  yourselves  in  sumptuous  cars  as  it  is 
with  us,  the  horses  are  unhitched,  the  coach  run 
upon  the  top  of  a  little  car,  and  with  two  poor 


10 

mules  attached,  which  look  more  like  animated 
hair  trunks  than  beasts  of  burden,  at  about  the 
speed  of  four  miles  an  hour,  attained  by  many 
blows  and  pokings  of  sharp  pointed  sticks,  you  are 
drawn  over  the  most  execrable  road  it  is  within 
the  power  of  man  to  imagine,  and  without  his 
power  to  describe.  Just  toward  evening,  you 
reach  the  terminus  of  the  railway,  and  with  eight 
mules  attached,  enter  a  country  of  great  luxu- 
riance. The  dense  chapparal  on  either  side  filled 
with  a  flower  called  the  "  Perfume  of  the  Night," 
exhales  a  delicious  odor  and  fills  the  air  with  fra- 
grance. The  startled  deer  that  spring  from  the 
path  and  bound  into  the  leafy  recesses  on  either 
side,  the  frightened  plover  that  rises  and  settles 
on  a  neighbouring  limb,  give  testimony  how  little 
their  haunts  are  visited  by  man.  At  last  you 
begin  crossing  those  rugged  chains  of  mountains 
now  rising  seven  and  eight  thousand  feet,  now 
sinking  to  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  which,  with 
few  intervening  plateaus  of  narrow  breadth,  tra- 
verse this  lower  part  of  Mexico  from  the  Gulf  to 
the  Pacific.  Further  on,  you  reach  the  National 
Bridge,  one  of  the  most  magnificent  pieces  of 


*      11 

modern  art  in  the  republic,  and  Cerro  Gordo,  so 
brilliantly  carried  by  the  Americans  in  1847. 

By  no  means  the  least  amusing  sight  in  that 
land  of  oddities  is  the  manner  of  driving,  after 
having  passed  a  fearful  night  in  the  inside  of  the 
coach,  which  had  a  motion  not  unlike  the  juvenile 
amusement  of  seesaw,  and  which  had  reduced 
two  or  three  stove-pipe  hats  to  a  condition 
similar  to  those  of  gentlemen,  "  who  never  go 
home  till  morning,"  at  sunrise,  when  near  to 
Jalapa,  I  mounted  the  box  that  I  might  better 
view  the  approach  to  the  most  picturesque  city  in 
the  republic,  and  whose  name  in  connection 
with  calomel  is  so  familiar  to  all.  We  had  two 
drivers,  or  cocheros  as  they  are  called,  the  one 
armed  with  a  long  lashed  whip,  the  other  with  a 
sharp  pointed  pole  and  a  basket  of  stones.  I 
waited  patiently  for  the  attack  which  I  was  sure 
would  be  made  *s  soon  as  we  neared  the  city ;  at 
last  commenced  the  onset — the  one  furiously  be- 
labored the  sides  of  the  poor  mules  with  his  long 
lashed  whip,  the  other  having  exhausted  the 
stones  by  pelting  the  leaders,  in  a  paroxysm  of 
frenzy  seized  the  sharp  pointed  pole  and  began 


12 

boring  into  an  unfortunate  wheeler,  and  amid  the 
crackings  of  the  whip  and  hideous  yells,  we 
dashed  into  Jalapa  with  great  eclat  and  much  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  cocheros. 

The  first  view  of  Jalapa  coming  from  Vera 
Cruz  is  sudden  and  sublime;  nothing  could  be 
more  instantaneous,  save  the  touch  of  the 
magician's  wand.  In  the  bottom  of  the  valley 
sleeps  Jalapa,  while  the  coffre  of  Perote,  magnifi- 
cent in  its  immensity,  like  the  evil  genius  of  the 
spot,  watches  in  the  rear.  A  little  to  the  south 
beautiful  Orizaba,  mountain  of  the  star,  like  a 
sugar  loaf  rises  seventeen  thousand  feet  from  the 
level  of  its  base,  and  ever  pierces  the  clouds  with 
its  eternally  snow-mantled  summit.  Still  further 
to  the  southward  stretch  the  barrancas  (or  defiles) 
leading  to  Coscomatepec  and  San  Antonio 
Huatusco.  With  the  lofty  cordillera  that  shut 
it  in,  its  groves  of  orange  trees,  its  arborescent 
ferns  and  nodding  palms,  scarce  can  a  lovelier 
spot  be  found  than  the  valley  of  Jalapa.  Situated 
just  between  the  torrid  and  temperate  zones,  this 
region  contains  the  products  of  both,  the  climate 
is  the  most  delicious  and  heathful  that  can  be 


13 

imagined,  and  during  the  prevalence  of  the  Vomito 
is  the  resort  of  the  merchants  of  Vera  Cruz ;  it 
is  also  visited  by  invalids  of  all  parts  of  the  re- 
public, and  particularly  by  consumptives,  on 
whom  the  climate  is  said  to  have  a  very  beneficial 
effect.  Here  would  I  like  to  linger,  but  though 
I  spent  many  happy  days  in  the  valley  of  Jalapa, 
and  when  I  left  it  did  so  with  regret,  yet  it  has 
no  grand  cathedral  resplendent  with  gold  and 
precious  stones,  no  ruined  monuments,  memorials 
of  the  obliterated  race  whose  glories  I  might 
depict,  nothing  but  its  majestic  scenery,  and  lan- 
guage cannot  paint  nature.  Yet  there  is  one 
scene  more  lovely  than  the  rest,  the  description  of 
which  I  cannot  forego.  Upon  leaving  Jalapa,  we 
commenced  the  ascent  of  San  Miguel,  and  when 
about  three  fourths  of  the  distance  up,  the  dili- 
gence stopped,  that  we  might  alight  and  behold 
what  every  traveller  admits  to  be  the  most  en- 
chanting view  on  the  North  American  continent. 
A  little  to  the  right  was  Jalapa,  sleeping,  as  we 
had  first  beheld  her,  with  the  ogre  Perote  still 
watching  her,  below  us  were  broad  plateaus, 
deep  ravines,  and  narrow  gorges,  away  in  the 


11 


distance  the  beautiful  fall  of  Naulingen,  leaping 
from  a  high  black  rock,  seemed  like  a  silver 
thread  resting  upon  a  sable  mantle  ;  at  the  distance 
of  a  hundred  miles  we  beheld  the  sea,  sparkling 
beneath  the  rays  of  the  sun;  and  elevated  as 
we  were,  thousands  of  feet  above  us  towered  the 
peak  of  Orizaba.  Never  will  the  impressions 
made  upon  me  at  the  time  by  this  magnificent 
panorama  be  erased.  We  all  stood  gazing  at  the 
scene  as  if  rooted  to  the  spot,  until,  after  repeated 
calls  of  the  driver,  we  reluctantly  resumed  our 
seats,  and  still  ascending  lost  the  view  beneath 
the  clouds.  After  gaining  an  altitude  of  eight 
thousand  feet,  you  again  descend  and  reach  the 
insignificant  village  of  Perote.  Here  commences 
the  great  Mai  Pais.  The  plain  stretching  for 
many  leagues  on  every  side — barren,  desolate,  and 
much  impregnated  with  salt, — in  winter  abundant 
in  saline  lakes,  in  summer  swept  by  whirlwinds 
which  carry  the  salty  earth  in  columns  far  be- 
yond the  sight,  is  encircled  with  mountains  white 
with  saline  encrustations.  This  waste,  upon 
which  nothing  taller  than  a  furze  bush  grows,  is 
not  without  its  beauties.  In  many  places  the 


15 

salt  upon  the  earth  appears  almost  like  a  hoar 
frost,  and  then  the  lofty  Cordillera  that  comes 
tumbling  from  the  mountain  regions  of  the  north 
stops  at  the  head  of  the  plain — encircles  it  with 
its  brawny  arms — then  reuniting  continues  on 
abrupt  awhile,  then  sinks  into  gentle  undulations 
in  the  lovely  regions  of  the  south.  Across  this 
sterile  country,  and  beyond  the  dividing  ridge, 
surrounded  by  a  fruitful  plain  is  the  City  of 
Puebla,  second  in  size  and  importance  in  the 
republic.  Behind  the  city  rises  the  lofty  summit 
of  Popocatapetl,  towering  far  above  his  fellow 
peaks.  Of  greater  height  above  the  level  of  the 
sea  than  Orizaba,  its  elevation  from  the  plain  is 
less,  nor  is  it  yet  so  beautifully  proportioned, 
Orizaba,  tall  and  slender,  Popocatapetl  is  a  huge 
mass  and  ill  defined.  The  principal  object  of 
interest  in  the  city  is  the  cathedral,  from  the 
centre  of  which  depends  a  massive  chandelier  of 
three  tons  in  weight,  composed  of  silver  and  gold ; 
and  the  amount  of  jewels  and  precious  stone  dis- 
played on  State  occasions  almost  equals  that  seen 
by  Aladdin  when  he  rubbed  his  magical  lamp ; 


16 


in  fact  its  wealth  is  considered  by  many  to  be 
equal  to  that  of  the  cathedral  at  Mexico. 

To  reach  the  Valley  of  Mexico  you  are  com- 
pelled to  cross  another  ridge  of  far  greater  height 
than  those  already  surmounted  between  Puebla 
and  the  coast,  rising  indeed  in  one  point  to  an 
altitude  of  eleven  thousand  feet.  But  the  mag- 
nificent views  from  the  lofty  summits  and  the 
enchanting  scenery  in  the  mountains  amply 
compensate  for  the  fatigue. 

At  a  point  of  the  road  called  the  Cruzdel 
Marquez,  elevated  ten  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  four  thousand  above  the  plain  at  its 
feet,  the  first  full  view  of  the  plateau  of  Mexico, 
the  lovely  vale  of  Anahuac,  bursts  upon  the  sight 
with  its  silvery  lakes,  its  fields  of  maize,  its  little 
hamlets  and  ruined  cities,  once  so  populous,  and 
in  the  centre  rising  Chapultepec,  the  royal 
residence  of  the  Montezumas,  hard  by  the  city  of 
domes  and  turrets. — Mexico — the  ancient  Teno- 
chtitlan.  Beautiful  as  the  valley  still  is,  and  so 
impressive  to  the  traveller,  what  must  it  have 
been  to  the  eyes  of  Cortez,  before  the  forests  of 
oaks  had  disappeared,  when  the  lakes  covered 


17 

three  times  the  surface  which  they  now  do,  and 
washed  the  walls  of  that  far  famed  city  "  the 
Venice  of  the  Aztecs."  No  longer  do  you  ap- 
proach the  city  by  a  narrow  causeway,  the  lakes 
having  retreated  from  the  walls  to  the  distance  of 
a  league,  and  the  floating  gardens  with  their 
loads  of  flowers  have  become  fastened  to  the 
earth. 

Although  from  the  loveliness  of  its  situation, 
the  City  of  Mexico  has  been  said  to  be  the  most 
beautiful  on  the  American  continent ;  yet  archi- 
tecturally, it  can  lay  no  claims  to  superior 
excellence,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  some 
few  of  the  public  buildings,  and  even  in  these  is 
displayed  more  of  barbaric  splendor  than  of 
refined  elegance.  The  streets  are  laid  out  with 
extreme  regularity,  intersecting  each  other  at 
right  angles.  The  houses  from  the  soft  nature  of 
the  soil  are  but  seldom  more  than  one  story  in 
height,  enclosing  a  quadrangle  or  courtyard  from 
which  the  house  is  entered,  and  are  of  the  style 
prevalent  in  the  south  of  Europe  during  the  16th 
century.  In  the  centre  of  the  city  is  the  grand 
plaza,  an  open  space  of  several  acres,  fronting 


18 

which  are  the  cathedral,  the  national  palace,  the 
Louja  or  Merchant's  Exchange,  and  on  the 
western  side  stands  the  palace  built  by  Cortez, 
still  owned  by  his  descendants,  and  beneath 
whose  spacious  portals  congregate  crowds  of 
hawkers,  letter-writers,  and  dealers  in  trifling 
articles. 

The  city  of  Mexico  might  almost  be  called  the 
city  of  churches,  of  which  there  are  no  less  than 
eighty  within  the  walls,  and  three  of  them,  the 
Santa  Teresa,  the  Encarnacion  and  the  Concepcion, 
own  three-fourths  of  all  the  private  dwellings  in 
the  city.  The  church,  always  respected  and  sus- 
tained by  the  different  dynasties  that  have  ruled 
Mexico,  has  acquired  great  wealth  and  has  not 
unfrequently  been  the  lender  of  large  sums  to  the 
government.  The  amount  of  property  held  by  the 
Mexican  Church  at  the  -present  time,  amounts 
to  $60,000,000,  in  mortmain;  $100,000,000,  in 
lands  and  treasures,  besides  vast  sums  in  jewels. 
To  this  great  wealth,  the  Bishops  and  higher 
Clergy  of  the  church  have  been  faithful  stewards, 
and  although  we  cannot  cease  to  regret  the  mis. 
taken  zeal  of  the  first  Bishop  of  Mexico,  who 


19 

caused  the  destruction  of  the  whole  Aztec  litera- 
ture, yet  the  magnificent  hospitals  and  charitable 
institutions  which  these  men  have  erected,  many 
of  them  out  of  their  private  revenues,  will  ever 
exist  as  monuments  of  their  munificence.  The 
three  churches  which  are  considered  as  surpass- 
ing in  beauty,  wealth,  and  importance,  the  others 
are  the  Cathedral,  the  Professa  and  the  Collegiate 
Church  of  Guadeloupe.  The  Cathedral  occupies 
precisely  the  same  position  as  did  the  Teocalli  or 
Pyramidal  Temple  of  the  Aztecs,  and  although 
nothing  can  compensate  for  its  want  of  height, 
the  interior  is  decorated  with  great  gorgeousness, 
and  profusion  is  its  chief  characteristic.  Imme- 
diately fronting  as  you  enter,  and  occupying  the 
centre  of  the  building,  is  a  large  enclosed  choir 
for  the  Clergy,  made  of  precious  and  highly 
polished  woods,  and  glistening  with  gilded  orna- 
ments ;  directly  in  the  rear,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  from  the  choir,  is  the  Grand  Altar, 
raised  upon  an  elevated  platform,  and  composed 
of  thirteen  different  kinds  of  marble,  covered 
with  ornaments,  crosses  and  candlesticks  of  gold 
and  silver ;  it  is  surmounted  by  the  Image  of  the 


20 

Virgin  of  Remedies,  whose  dowry  in  dresses, 
diamonds,  emeralds  and  pearls  is  estimated  at 
not  less  than  $3,000,000.  From  the  choir  to  the 
altar,  and  encircling  both,  is  a  heavy  balustrade 
made  of  a  metal  brought  from  China,  and  com- 
posed of  copper,  silver  and  gold.  It  is  massive  but 
not  handsome,  and  being  paid  for  by  the  weight 
in  dollars,  cost  an  enormous  sum.  The  whole  is 
lighted  by  numerous  chandeliers  of  silver,  and 
on  Easter  Sunday,  when  I  was  fortunate  enough 
to  *see  it,  presents  a  gorgeous  spectacle  with  its 
glistening  gold  and  silver,  and  naming  wax  lights 
glaring  on  the  hundreds  of  kneeling  worshippers 
who  crowd  into  the  spacious  and  magnificent 
edifice.  In  the  outer  and  western  wall  of  the 
Cathedral  is  fixed  a  circular  stone,  dug  out  from 
the  plaza,  covered  with  hieroglyphic  figures,  by 
which  the  Aztecs  designated  the  months  of  the 
year,  and  forming  a  perpetual  calendar.  A  little 
removed  from  the  calendar  is  a  second  stone, 
which  was  used  by  the  Aztecs  in  the  great 
Temple  in  their  human  sacrifices ;  it  is  in  a  com- 
plete state  of  preservation,  and  the  little  canals  for 
carrying  off  the  blood,  with  a  hollow  in  the  middle, 


21 

into  which  the  piece  of  jasper  was  inserted,  upon 
which  the  back  of  the  victim  rested,  while  his 
breast  was  laid  open  and  his  palpitating  heart 
submitted  to  the  inspection  of  the  high  priest, 
still  give  one  a  living  idea  of  the  disgusting 
operation.  The  Church  of  the  Professor  is  con- 
sidered to  be  the  wealthiest  next  to  the  cathedral 
and  collegiate  church,  and  is  chiefly  noted  for  its 
large  collection  of  paintings. 

About  a  league  to  the  north  of  the  city,  and 
reached  by  an  avenue  extending  over  one  of  the 
ancient  causeways,  is  the  church  of  Guadeloupe, 
at  the  spot  where  was  made  the  treaty  between 
Mexico  and  the  United  States,  called  the  treaty  of 
Guadeloupe  Hidalgo.  As  Saint  Patrick  is  the 
tutelar  saint  of  Ireland,  so  is  the  Virgin  of  Guade- 
loupe the  Patroness  of  Mexico,  and  in  every 
Church,  Convent,  Monastery,  Palace,  Hovel, 
Hacienda  and  Rancho,  on  the  wall  is  suspended 
an  Image  of  the  Virgin  of  Guadeloupe.  The 
accumulation  of  treasure  within  the  church,  sur- 
passes all  others  save  the  cathedral;  like  the 
Cathedral,  it  has  an  enclosed  choir  for  the  Clergy, 
and  the  altar  is  also  similar,  with  the  exception 


that  the  candlesticks,  the  shields  and  other  orna- 
ments are  entirely  of  gold,  and  the  railing  which 
encloses  both  choir  and  altar  is  of  solid  silver. 
The  numerous  chapels  with  which  the  edifice  is 
surrounded,  and  which  have  been  built  by  its 
wealthy  votaries,  have  destroyed  any  architectural 
effect  which  it  may  have  had,  and  one  of  these 
is  remarkable  from  its  having  been  built  in  con- 
sequence of  an  escape  from  shipwreck,  and 
having  assumed  as  much  as  possible  the  shape  of 
the  sails  of  a  ship.  Near  by  is  also  a  medicinal 
spring  upon  the  spot  where  it  is  said  the  virgin 
first  appeared,  and  is  attributed  to  possess  great 
healing  qualities,  and  continually  around  it  are 
seen  crowds  of  Indians  who  come  from  long 
distances  to  participate  in  its  benefits.  The 
power  which  the  Church  wields  over  this  portion 
of  her  blind  and  devoted  followers  is  accounted  for 
by  the  fact,  that  though  with  difficulty  won 
from  idolatry,  they  love  to  blend  the  superstitions 
of  their  former  worship  with  the  rites  of  the 
Romish  Church. 

It  is  a  very  pretty  sight  if  one  likes  to  behold 
the  costumes  of  the  different  races,  to  ride  out 


23 

before  sunset  on  the  Paseo  de  la  Viga,  the  fash 
ionable  promenade  that  runs  by  the  side  of  the 
canal  of  Chalco,  and  watch  the  natives  as  they 
paddle  their  canoes  freighted  with  fruits,  flowers, 
and  vegetables,  which  morning  and  evening  they 
take  to  the  Mexican  market,  bringing  them  from 
what  once  were  the  Chinampas,  or  floating  gar- 
dens. It  is  said  there  are  over  twenty  thousand 
private  carriages  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  for 
scarcely  any  lady  ever  walks  in  the  street,  and 
here,  too,  in  the  afternoon,  on  this  avenue  of  la 
Viga,  in  their  elegant  coaches,  pour  forth  the 
beauty  and  fashion  of  the  metropolis,  and  the  men 
splendidly  mounted,  standing  by  the  wayside, 
they  scatter  in  their  hearts  the  seeds  of  love  and 
hope.  But  at  sunset  the  bell  tolls  for  prayer,  the 
moving  mass  for  a  moment  pauses,  the  Indian 
paddling  his  canoe  falls  upon  his  knees,  each  hat 
is  lifted  from  the  head  in  reverential  devotion, 
and  then  each  betakes  himself  to  the  city. 
Whatever  evils  may  exist  in  Catholic  countries, 
we  cannot  but  admire  the  regard  of  the  people 
for  the  customs  of  the  Church,  and  their  devotion 
to  their  religion. 


24 

Going  along  the  Paseo  Neuva,  the  grand  ave- 
nue of  the  capital,  and  at  the  commencement  of 
which  stands  the  famous  equestrian  statue  of 
Carlo  Cuatro,  and  passing  out  of  the  Garita 
de  Belen,  through  which  the  American  army 
under  Quitman  entered  the  city,  and  driving 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  along  the  aqueduct,  you 
reach  Chapultepec,  a  low  mount,  on  which  stands 
the  military  academy,  and  where  was  fought 
the  celebrated  battle  just  before  the  capture 
of  the  city.  Here  was  the  favorite  residence 
of  that  luxurious  monarch,  Montezuma  the 
Second ;  here  he  reclined  beneath  the  very  cypress 
trees  which,  "  grey  with  the  moss  of  ages,"  now 
exist,  and  which  even  then  were  centuries  old. 
Never  under  any  preceding  ruler  had  the  empire 
attained  such  magnificence ;  but  while  it  seemed 
in  its  palmiest  and  most  prosperous  state,  the 
canker  had  eaten  deepest  in  its  heart.  Under 
the  shades  of  the  cypress  trees,  near  his  beloved 
Chapultepec,  by  the  side  of  his  kingly  ancestors, 
still  rest  his  ashes. 

No  country  in  the  world  is  so  rich  in  the  pre- 
cious metals  as  Mexico ;  between  four  and  five 


thousand  mines  have  been  at  different  times 
worked,  and  up  to  1821,  the  year  of  Indepen- 
dence, $2,028,000,000  had  been  obtained  from 
them.  The  most  valuable  of  these  are  now  in 
the  hands  of  English  capitalists,  who,  however, 
until  within  the  last  few  years,  have  been  exceed- 
ingly unfortunate  in  their  management  of  them. 
In  1824  and  1825  the  most  extravagant  notions 
prevailed  throughout  England  with  regard  to  the 
wealth  of  the  Mexican  mines.  The  most  exag- 
gerated stories  were  seized  with  avidity  by  those 
even  usually  incredulous,  and  Joint  Stock  Com- 
panies and  United  Mexican  Associations  were 
formed,  almost  rivalling  in  wildness  of  project  the 
famous  South  Sea  bubble.  Three  centuries  of 
experience  in  the  successful  working  of  these 
mines  by  the  natives,  was  thrown  aside  as  useless, 
Cornwall  was  stripped  of  her  miners,  machinery 
of  the  most  expensive  sort  was  manufactured,  and 
to  superintend  these  were  sent  out  gentlemen  of 
much  theory  but  little  practice.  The  result  was, 
that  the  machinery  was  not  at  all  adapted  to  the 
purposes,  the  labor  of  the  Cornish  miners  three 
times  as  expensive  as  a  like  number  of  natives, 


26 

and  together  with  the  incompetency  and  extrava 
gance  of  the  superintendents,  resulted  in  bank- 
ruptcy to  the  associations ;  and  it  was  not  until 
1835,  when,  detecting  the  errors  which  had 
proved  so  disastrous  to  the  first  speculators, 
that  they  were  resuscitated,  and  by  prudent  and 
judicious  management,  made  lucrative  to  the 
shareholders.  A  description  of  a  visit  to  one  of 
the  most  successful  of  theSe  mines,  together  with 
the  mode  of  extracting  the  silver  from  the  ore,  I 
have  thought  would  not  be  uninteresting. 

Deep  hid  in  a  valley  between  two  chains  of 
mountains  in  the  great  Cordilleras,  shut  out  from 
all  the  world  beside,  with  the  primeval  forest 
climbing  the  steep  ascent  on  either  side,  lies  the 
village  of  Real  del  Monte.  And  when  from  the 
bridle  path  which  crosses  the  mountains,  you  look 
down  upon  the  sombre  little  hamlet  with  its  soli- 
tary church  and  scattered  houses,  it  almost  passes 
belief  that  beneath  it  lies  one  of  the  richest  mines 
in  the  world,  which,  long  before  the  conquest  the 
Aztecs  worked,  from  which  vast  portions  of  their 
wealth  were  exhumed,  and  which  even  now,  after 
the  workings  of  so  many  years,  seems  inexhaus- 


27 

tible.  Having  resolved  upon  visiting  the  mine, 
we  laid  aside  our  clothes  and  donned  the  miner's 
suit,  consisting  of  heavy  flannel  trowsers  and 
shirt,  thick  boots  and  a  lighted  tallow  candle 
secured  by  a  lump  of  damp  clay  to  our  hard  hats. 
At  the  entrance  to  the  main  shaft  is  stationed  the 
great  steam  pump  used  to  free  the  mine  of  water, 
the  greatest  obstacle  which  is  met  with.  The 
pumping  rods,  or  beams,  a*s  they  might  be  better 
called,  are  two  in  number,  one  of  a  thousand  and 
another  of  twelve  hundred  feet  in  length ;  they 
lift  the  water  six  hundred  feet  to  the  mouth  of 
an  adit  or  tunnel,  which  runs  for  the  distance  of 
two  miles  under  ground,  and  discharges  100,000 
gallons  per  hour,  making  quite  a  river  and  suffi- 
cient to  turn  the  wheels  of  a  mill  seven  miles 
distant.  A  trap  door  being  lifted,  we  began  to 
descend  by  small  ladders  of  about  nine  inches  in 
width  and  about  three  feet  long,  reaching  to  a 
small  platform,  where  started  a  similar  ladder  at 
an  opposite  angle.  After  reaching  the  bottom  of 
the  mine,  two  thousand  feet  below  the  surface, 
we  passed  into  the  lateral  galleries,  which,  some- 
times, not  more  than  four  feet  in  height  and  three 


28 

in  breadth,  we  would  be  compelled  almost  to 
creep  through  on  our  hands  and  feet,  and  at 
others  expanding  into  magnificent  grottos,  where 
the  stalactites  and  many  colored  crystals  flashing 
from  the  miners'  torches,  gave  the  impression  of 
a  necromancer's  fit  abode.  The  ore,  when 
brought  to  the  surface,  is  in  masses  of  about  one 
foot  square  ;  it  is  there  broken  into  small  pieces, 
packed  in  bags,  placed'  on  the  backs  of  donkeys 
and  driven  fifteen  miles  to  the  Hacienda  or  refin- 
ing mill  of  the  company,  at  Regla.  It  is  there 
subjected  to  the  operation  of  the  stamping  mill, 
which  pulverizes  it  by  means  of  heavy  pounders  ; 
then  mixed  with  water  it  runs  into  large  vats, 
where  it  remains  until  the  water  is  completely 
evaporated,  when  it  is  taken  out,  mixed  with  a 
proportion  of  five  per  cent,  of  salt  and  a  small 
part  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  put  into  a  calcinating 
furnace;  the  muriatic  acid  amalgamates  with  the 
silver  forming  muriate  of  silver,  and  the  sul- 
phuric acid  with  the  base  of  the  salt,  forming 
sulphate  of  soda.  After  having  assumed  these 
conditions,  the  mass  is  put  into  barrels  revolving 
upon  their  axes,  with  quicksilver  and  scraps  of 


29 

iron  ;  the  muriatic  acid  then  abandons  the  silver 
for  the  iron,  and  the  mercury  gathers  up  all  the 
silver ;  it  is  then  placed  in  a  leathern  bag  with  a 
cloth  bottom,  which  permits  the  superfluous 
quicksilver  to  pass  off.  In  •  this  state  it  is  of  a 
dull  leaden  color  and  of  the  consistency  of  thick 
paste.  The  next  and  last  process  which  it  under- 
goes, is  being  formed  into  wedge  shapes  and 
placed  around  the  inside  of  a  dome  four  feet  high, 
about  which  a  fire  is  made,  driving  the  mercury 
off  in  fumes  and  leaving  the  silver  in  a  perfectly 
pure  state.  There  are  two  or  three  other 
methods  of  extracting  and  refining  silver,  but 
this  is  considered  the  best  by  far. 

With  every  variety  of  climate,  and  with  a  soil 
which  almost  spontaneously  produces  the  fruits 
for  man's  subsistence,  in  great  variety,  and  ex- 
ceeding perfection,  her  agriculture  is  by  no  means 
developed.  Bad  roads,  and  the  want  of  transpor- 
tation, except  by  mules,  combine  to  impede  rural 
industry,  destroy  internal  intercourse,  and  force 
the  consumption  of  products  upon  the  spot  on 
which  they  are  raised.  The  principal  and  staple 
crops  are  corn,  rice,  the  banana,  beans  and  sugar. 


30 

There  are  but  few  parts  of  Mexico  in  which  com 
is  not  cultivated  with  great  success,  and  reduced 
to  a  pulpy  consistency  by  rubbing  between  two 
stones,  mixed  with  a  little  lime  and  baked  in  the 
thinnest  imaginable  cakes,  it  constitutes  an 
important  item  in  the  meal  of  every  Mexican, 
from  the  millionaire  to  the  most  wretched  lepero. 
The  Banana,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Tierra 
C  alienate,  is  almost  as  great  a  necessity  as  corn  ; 
and  Humboldt,  that  model  of  accuracy  in  all  his- 
torical and  statistical  facts,  says,  that  while  an 
acre  of  wheat  will  only  sustain  three  men,  an 
acre  of  bananas  will  sustain  fifty.  But  that  in 
which  the  most  energy  is  displayed,  and  the  most 
capital  employed,  is  the  culture  of  the  sugar  cane. 
One  of  the  most  celebrated  plantations,  or 
Haciendas,  that  of  Temisco,  in  the  valley  of 
Cuernavaca,  is  thirty  miles  long  by  nine  in 
breadth,  and  cost  the  present  owner  $300,000. 
This  estate,  by  no  means  the  largest  in  the  re- 
public, produces  yearly  eight  hundred  thousand 
pounds  of  sugar,  and  pays  in  wages  alone  a 
thousand  dollars  a  week.  And  yet,  with  crops 
which  produce  twice  a  year,  and  with  every  pos- 


sible  natural  advantage,  Mexico  is  not  an  agricul 
tural  country.  The  monopoly  of  the  land  by  a 
few  owners,  the  territories  of  which  not  unfre- 
quently  comprise  from  twenty  to  one  hundred 
square  leagues ;  the  rigid  adherence  to  the  primi- 
tive principles  of  agriculture  ;  the  reluctance  to 
adopt  modern  implements ;  the  want  of  immigra- 
tion, and,  above  all,  of  roads  between  different 
parts  of  the  republic,  serve  to  make  it  pastoral 
rather  than  agricultural ;  and  it  will  not  be  until 
these  large  manors  are  subdivided,  immigation 
encouraged,  means  of  intercourse  between  the 
interior  and  the  coast  promoted,  and  not  until 
she  exports  the  products  which  her  fertile  soil  so 
readily  produces,  that  Mexico  can  take  that  posi- 
tion, the  expectation  of  which  her  natural 
resources  so  amply  justifies. 

Every  nation  has  its  national  beverage :  the 
French,  the  wines  of  Bordeaux ;  the  English,  ale  ; 
the  German,  lager ;  the  Irish,  the  Mountain  Dew, 
gathered  from  the  Mountain  Still ;  and  the  Mexi- 
can, Pulque.  Pulque  is  an  exhilarating  and 
slightly  intoxicating  liquor,  made  from  the  juice 
of  the  Maguey,  or,  as  it  is  better  known  to  us, 


32 

the  century  plant.  Much  capital  is  employed 
and  large  plantations  devoted  to  its  culture  in  the 
states  of  Puebla,  Mexico,  Guanajuato  and  Valla- 
dolid,  and  constitutes  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  domestic  commerce.  Just  as  the  plant  is 
about  to  bloom,  which  is  generally  when  it  has 
attained  its  fifth  year,  the  heart  is  cut  out,  leaving 
a  large  cavity  in  which  the  juice  collects,  and 
being  emptied  three  or  four  times  daily,  is 
allowed  slightly  to  ferment,  then  placed  in  cases 
made  of  new  hog  skins,  which,  placed  on  the 
backs  of  diminutive  donkeys,  are  driven  beneath 
the  burning  sun  of  the  Tierra  Caliente  to  one  of 
the  great  cities.  The  baking  process  which  the 
skin  undergoes  during  this  journey,  imparts  to  it 
that  peculiar  flavor  which  contributes  to  make  it, 
as  Mad.  Calderon  so  aptly  says, "  taste  like  putrid 
meat  smells."  But  notwithstanding  the  abusive 
things  said  of  it,  when  one  is  crossing  a  broad 
arid  plain  where  no  water  is,  and  where  at  every 
step  the  horse  sinks  to  his  fetlock  in  the  loose 
shifting  sand,  and  the  ardent  rays  of  the  sun 
fever  the  blood  and  parch  the  mouth,  the  sight  of 
a  pjlqueria  is  hailed  with  delight,  and  the  pecu- 


33 

liar  taste  of  the  liquor  is  forgotten  in  its  refresh- 
ing and  exhilarating  effects. 

There  are  three  distinct  races  in  Mexico — the 
White,  the  Indian,  and  the  Negro.  The  last  not- 
withstanding the  large  numbers  brought  hither 
into  slavery  have  been  almost  exterminated  by 
disease,  and  now  amount  only  to  about  five 
thousand.  The  total  population  is  somewhat 
over  seven  millions,  of  which  but  one  million  are 
Whites  and  Creoles  or  natives,  the  remaining 
six  millions  being  Indians  and  Mestizoes  or 
mixed.  The  principal  seat  of  the  Whites  is  on 
the  table  land  and  along  the  northern  frontier. 
The  White,  from  the  climate  and  from  the  pride 
of  color  which  makes  him  regard  labor  "as-  some- 
thing degrading,  is  disposed  to  an  indulgent  and 
voluptuous  life ;  if  asked  a  question  which  de- 
mands reflection,  too  lazy  to  think,  his  answer  is 
"  quien  sabe,"  or  who  can  tell ;  and  procrastina- 
ting beyond  all  example  everything  is  .put  off 
"  Hasta  manana,"  which  means  until  to-morrow. 
Living  upon  an  estate  secluded  from  all  society, 
but  rarely  hearing  of  the  movements  in  the  world, 
and  with  no  taste  for  literature,  he  becomes  feel- 


34 

fish  and  morose ;  or  an  inhabitant  of  the  city,  he 
is  occupied  with  the  weekly  revolutions  and 
changes  of  government.  Entirely  unfitted  for 
social  and  domestic  life,  his  amusements  are  the 
opera  and  the  bull  fight,  his  affections  his  horse 
and  the  gambling  table.  Perfidious,  he  prates  of 
his  honor,  cowardly  he  boasts  of  his  valor,  and 

X 

unscrupulous  in  his  efforts  for  power  he  descants 
on  his  patriotism.  But  of  that  other  portion — 
the  great  mass,  says  a  late  writer — the  Indians  of 
Mexico,  are  grave,  taciturn  and  distrustful,  types 
in  manners,  of  a  crushed  and  conquered  race, 
and  although  slavery  is  prohibited  by  law,  yet  on 
the  plantations  they  are  in  reality  slaves.  With 
strong  attachments  for  the  place  of  his  birth,  the 
greatest  punishment  the  planter  can  inflict  on  the 
Indian,  is  to  expel  him  from  his  estate,  and  then 
at  intervals  indulging  in  the  wildest  and  most 
extravagant  dissipation  he  becomes  a  debtor  to  the 
proprietor  which  the  landholder  in  every  manner 
helps  to  promote,  until  at  last  he  becomes 
mortgaged  to  the  estate  for  life,  and  this  is  the 
origin  of  peonage  which  is  but  another  form  of 
slavery. 


35 

"  The  worst  punishment,"  said  Bataller,  "  that 
can  be  inflicted  upon  Mexicans,  is  to  permit  them 
to  govern  themselves."  Thirty-five  years  of 
almost  uninterrupted  civil  war  have  proved  the 
truth  of  that  remark.  Throned  on  mines  she  is 
a  borrower  at  exorbitant  usury.  Washed  by  the 
two  great  oceans  of  the  globe,  her  mariners 
are  fishermen  and  her  vessels  are  skiffs.  Endowed 
with  a  constitution,  and  enjoying  the  name  of  a  re- 
public, she  beholds  that  constitution  overthrown 
by  her  army,  without  even  demanding  the  con- 
sent of  her  people.  Incapable  of  developing  her 
great  resources,  she  must  instead  of  progressing, 
retrograde.  Mr.  Ward,  British  Minister  to 
Mexico,  speaking  of  California  in  1827,  says 
"  centuries  must  elapse  before  the  civilization  of 
America  can  increase  sufficiently  to  give  it  any 
value,  and  it  will  probably  be  one  of  the  last 
strong  holds  of  man  in  a  semi-barbarous  state," 
and  had  this  territory  not  passed  into  the  hands 
of  an  enlightened  and  enterprizing  nation,  the 
rivers  still  would  have  rolled  undisturbed  over 
their  golden  beds,  and  the  mountains  still  have 
concealed  their  treasures.  Impoverished,  haughty, 


36 

uneducated,  defiant,  bigoted,  loaded  with  debt, 
without  credit  and  occupying  a  geographical 
position  by  which  from  the  laws  of  nature  she 
ought  to  have  a  controlling  effect  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world,  it  is  impossible  for  her  longer  to  exist 
an  independent  nation,  and  as  the  United  States 
could  not  permit  any  European  government  to 
acquire  new  territory  on  this  continent,  she  must 
be  annexed  to  this  country.  A  distinguished 
authority  says,  that  when  a  weak  power  owns  an 
adjoining  territory  to  the  stronger  power,  which  in 
the  position  of  a  third  might  become  dangerous, 
the  strong  party  has  the  right  to  demand  it  by  pur- 
chase, which  if  refused  it  has  the  right  to  take  it  by 
force."  This  doctrine  the  English  government  have 
recently  put  in  force  with  regard  to  the  kingdom 
of  fjude  in  the  East  Indies,  and  although  in  the 
event  of  a  war  a  communication  with  California  by 
the  way  of  Vera  Cruz  and  San  Bias  wouldbe  of 
the  utmost  importance,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
assert  a  doctrine  which  is  so  repugnant  to  our 
institutions  and  to  the  genius  of  our  people,  for 
ike  a  ripened  pear  she  -  will  soon  fall  into  our 
arms,  and  already  a  few  patriot  statesmen  in 


37 

Mexico,  assert  that  her  only  hope  is  in  annexation 
to  the  United  States. 

Extension  of  territory  in  such  a  country  as  ours, 
and  with  such  a  people,  is  not  prejudicial  to  its 
existence.  When  distinct  nationalities  are  ab- 
sorbed by  an  empire,  retaining  the  same  popula- 
tion, influenced  by  the  same  interests,  and  changing 
but  in  their  rulers,  their  acquisition  tends  only  to 
weaken  and  divide ;  but  in  the  acquirement  of 
foreign  territory  by  the  United  States,  its  popula- 
tion cease  to  have  an  individuality,  their  lan- 
guage, the  people  themselves  disappear  before  the 
mighty  influx  of  Americans,  and  the  tie  of  kindred 
and  community  of  interest  firmly  bind  the  whole 
together.  And  I  believe  that  the  Creator  has 
designed  this  nation  to  be  the  herald  of  civiliza- 
tion, of  liberty  and  Christianity  to  the  oppressed 
of  the  earth,  and  that  it  will  lure  the  world  to 
freedom  by  the  beauty  of  its  example.  And 
speaking  of  the  expansion  of  this  country,  a 
gentleman  distinguished  as  much  for  his  classic 
acquirements  as  his  profound  statesmanship,  says 
"It  must  reach  at  the  north  to  the  enchanted 


38 

cave  of  the  magnet,  within  never  melting  barriers 
of  arctic  ice  ;  it  must  bow  to  the  lord  of  day  on 
the  altar  peaks  of  Chimborazo  ;  it  must  look 
up  and  worship  the  southern  cross.  From  the 
easternmost  cliff  on  the  Atlantic,  that  blushes  in 
the  kindling  dawn,  to  the  last  promontory  on  the 
Pacific,  which  catches  the  parting  kiss  of  the 
setting  sun  as  he  goes  down  to  his  pavilion  of 
purple  and  gold,  it  must  make  the  outgoings 
of  the  morning;  and  evening  to  rejoice  in  the 
gladsome  light  of  morals,  and  letters,  and  arts." 
And  when  the  United  States,  as  it  must,  shall 
have  absorbed  the  whole  of  the  North  American 
continent,  it  will  fully  realize,  as  it  almost  now 
does,  the  description  by  Homer  of  the  buckler  of 
Achilles: 

"  Now  the  broad  shield  complete  the  artist  crowned, 
With  his  last  hand,  and  poured  the  ocean  round. 
In  living  silver  seemed  the  waves  to  roll, 
And  beat  the  buckler's  verge,  and  bound  the  whole.' 


